Sporting 1 Atletico Madrid 0 (agg 1-2): Fredy Montero’s strike is not enough as Diego Simeone’s side secure spot in Europa League semi-finals
The La Liga side were saved by their two goal advantage from the first leg at the Wanda Metropolitano
The La Liga side were saved by their two goal advantage from the first leg at the Wanda Metropolitano
ATLETICO MADRID secured their spot in the Europa League semi-finals despite suffering a 1-0 defeat to Sporting.
Colombian ace Fredy Montero bagged the only goal of the evening, but Diego Simeone's side were saved by their two-goal advantage from the first leg.
Sebastian Coates came close to opening the scoring for the home side, but Jan Oblak pulled off a world class save to tip the strike over the bar.
Sporting's persistence paid off and Fredy Montero broke the deadlock after 28 minutes to breathe life into the quarter-final.
A delivery into the box found the 30-year-old at the back post and the Colombian headed the ball over Oblak and into the net.
Diego Costa was replaced by Fernando Torres in the second half after appearing to pick up an injury after falling to the ground.
And the ex-Liverpool ace looked although he was going to score the equaliser just moments after being introduced, but his shot flew wide of the woodwork.
Antoine Griezmann delivered a ball up the pitch to put Torres through on goal, but Coates dived in to heroically block the shot.
The France international then gets his own shot at glory, but once again the La Liga side fail to find the equaliser.
After breaking through the wall of defenders, Griezmann was through on goal, but he fired his strike straight into goalkeeper Rui Patricio.
After a handful of missed chances, Atletico's efforts in the second half went unrewarded as the game finished 1-0.
The La Liga side will now face either RB Salzburg, Marseille or Arsenal in the semi-finals of the competition.